Glove



(No Model.)

H. H. & W. L. SMITH.

GLOVE.

No. 480,478. Patented Aug. 9, 1892.

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UNITED STATES.

PATENT OFFICE.

HOMER H. SMITH AND \VILLIAM L. SMITH, OF GLOVERSVILLE, NEW YORK.

GLOVE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 480,478, dated August 9, 1892.

Application filed February 1, 1892. Serial No. 419,984. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that we, HOMER H. SMITH and WILLIAM L. SMITH, citizens of the United States, residing at Gloversville, in the county of Fulton and State of New York, have inyented a certain new and useful Improvement in Gloves, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact-description.

The object of this invention is to provide a glove with a thumb which may expand in all directions to secure agood fit; and to this end in the preferred form of construction, as herein illustrated, the thumb is made of a single piece divided at its base into two lateral expansion-pieces, which thumb is inserted in a gash in the palm of the glove, with an expansion-piece integral with the glove and projecting from the wrist portion thereof toward the fingers and fitted between the expansionpieces of the thumb, the parts being secured by a seam extending from the tip of the thumb along its back,- and interrupted and divided at its base by the expansion-piece of the glove and connecting the outer edges of the thumbs expansion-pieces with the palm of the glove.

The principle of the invention we will describe first and the best mannerin which we have contemplated applying that principle, andthen We will particularlypoint out and distinctly claim the part or improvement which we claim as our invention.

In the accompanying drawings, illustrating our invention, in the several views, of which like parts are similarly designated, Figures 1, 2, and 3 show in various perspectives our glove applied. Figs. 4 and 5 show the patterns of the back and palm and the thumb, respectively. Fig. 6 is a perspective View of a common form of glove upon which our invention is a direct improvement.

Referring now to the old glove, Fig. 6, it is to be observed that the thumb a is secured in a hole in the glove by a scam I), which extends continuously around the thick part of the thumb, and also that a quirk or gusset c is employed to give the necessary free action to the thumb at that point, and finally that the thumb-seam 61 extends along the inside or palm side of the thumb.

In our glove the thumb e is made of a single piece, according to the pattern shown in Fig. 5, and it is inserted in a V-shaped gash f in the glove. In making the thumb the edges are united from 1 to 2 to form the back of the thumb, thus taking away the seam from the inside or palm side, where is the most wear, and placing it upon the back of the thumb, where is the least wear, leaving the inside or palm side smooth and Whole and therefore more durable than if seamed. The edge 3 of the wing g is seamed to edge 4: of the palm or front and the edge 5 of the wing it is seamed to edge 6 of the back, while the V-shaped piece or dart 'i is united by opposite edges to the edges 7 of the wings g and h, thus making a seam is, extending from the tip of the thumb along its back and around the base next the palm, as clearly indicated in Fig. 1. .This construction dispenses entirely with the use of a quirk 0r gusset.

The practical utility of our invention will appear from the following considerations: All glove-leather is pulled lengthwise of the pattern. Gloves appear to be Very much narrower before being puton the hand than afterward, and they are, in fact, narrower, because they have been elongated to their utmost in finishing. As the hand enters the glove the leather expands to fitthe hand, and the greater the ability or capacity to expand the better the fit. In the old glove, Fig. 6, the scam I) prohibits expansion in its direction, and hence it is impossible properly to fit a glove about the base of the thumb and across the thick part of the hand, and the seam buries itself in the flesh, cramping the hand and leaving a disagreeable mark. In our glove the thumb is free to expand uniformly and naturally from the base to the tip and throughout the parts g, h, and t', enabling the perfect fitting of the glove and producing a much easier and more comfortable glove. Moreover, the seam b of the old glove prohibits stretching the glove at that point by endangering the stitching. Furthermore, the seam, instead of being on the palm side and thus subject to most wear and to direct wear, is on the back, where it is least interfered with.

For convenience and because of a main function we will designate the parts g, h, and v1 expansion-pieces.

As the seam which joins the meeting edges of the thumb and unites the thumb to the glove does not continue around the base of the thumb, but leaves the unseamed or whole portion at the base of part i, we denominate the thumb-seam interrupted, and we do not limit our invention in this respect to the details illustrated nor to the V-shaped gash and expansion-piece i.

The back, palm, fourchettes, wrist, and fastenings may be of any usual or preferred construction.

Our invention is applicable to gloves and mittens for men, women, and children, but is specially useful in fine skin gloves.

What we claim is 1. A glove comprising a thumb made of a single piece, divided at its base into two lateral expansion-pieces and having a seamless palm side, a gashed palm having an integral expansion piece projecting from the wrist portion toward the fingers, and a connecting seam extending from the tip of the thumb along its back and interrupted at the base of the back of the thumb by the expansion-piece of the palm, whereby the thumb may expand in all directions to insure fitting of the glove, substantially as described.

2. A glove having a gashed palm portion and a Vshaped expansion-pieceintegral with the palm portion and projecting from the wrist toward the fingers, and a thumb having lateral expansion-pieces between which the V-shaped expansion-piece is fitted, the connecting-seam extending from the tip of the thumb along its back and dividing at the base of the back of the thumb along the lines of the V-shaped expansion-piece and continuing around the palm side of the thumb, substantially as described.

3. A glove comprising a thumb made of a single piece, divided at its base into two lateral expansion-pieces, a gashed palm having an integral expansion-piece projecting from the wrist portion toward the fingers, and a connecting-seam which is interrupted at the base of the back of the thumb by means of the expansion-piece of the palm, whereby the thumb may expand in all directions to insure fitting of the glove, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto set our hands this 28th day of January, A. D. 1892.

HOMER H. SMITH. WILLIAM L. SMITH. Witnesses:

HIRAM J. ANTHONY, NELSON H. ANIBAL. 

